Kyle Larson, again.
The Winner
Larson led for, yet again, nearly the entire race, with just a mid-green flag pit cycle caution costing him another sweep of the stages.
The Race
Kind of an ugly one, in that half a dozen cars lost their brakes and a quarter of a dozen others ran over bits of brakes and lost tires because of it.
Notable Names
Ross Chastain made a run late, aided by a fuel mileage game in which he didn’t have to conserve while others did. He finished 2nd.
William Byron was 3rd.
Aric Almirola got a good result, coming in 4th.
Kevin Harvick was kind of a factor, fading late at the opposite end of the Chastain game to come in 5th.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn’t wreck anybody (to my knowledge), which is too bad. He was 6th, having run in second for a while there.
Daniel Suárez had a nice day, coming in 7th.
Kurt Busch got some good points, finishing 8th.
Christopher Bell was 9th.
Joey Logano was 10th.
Kyle Busch contended early (for second, at least), but his car’s success didn’t last. 11th place.
Austin Dillon was 12th.
Ryan Newman was 13th.
Alex Bowman was 14th.
Michael McDowell was 16th.
Tyler Reddick spun exiting pit road in the aforementioned first-stage green flag pit cycle, jumbling things up but not doing too much else. He was 18th.
Erik Jones was 19th.
Bubba Wallace was a victim of NASCAR’s cleanup efforts, with at least one of his two spins coming from a brake rotor. 20th place.
Denny Hamlin was 21st.
Martin Truex Jr. received a questionable penalty entering pit road mid-race. He ended up 22nd.
Brad Keselowski finished the race through some brake issues. 23rd place.
Matt DiBenedetto was 24th.
Cole Custer had a tire go down. He was 30th.
Chase Briscoe lost his brakes and hit the wall. 31st.
Ryan Preece lost his brakes. 32nd.
Chris Buescher either lost his brakes or ran over someone else’s. 36th.
Ryan Blaney lost his brakes. 37th.
Chase Elliott was found to have finished the race with too many loose lugnuts and was dropped to 39th.
Standings
Nine races left before the playoffs, including two next weekend at Pocono (wonder what kind of odds Larson’s going to have).
1. Larson (4 wins)
2. Truex (3 wins)
3. Bowman (2 wins)
4. Byron (1 win)
5. Elliott (1 win)
6. Logano (1 win)
7. Kyle Busch (1 win)
8. Blaney (1 win)
9. Keselowski (1 win)
10. Bell (1 win)
11. McDowell (1 win)
12. Hamlin (318 points ahead of first driver out)
13. Harvick (149 points ahead of first driver out)
14. Dillon (108 points ahead of first driver out)
15. Reddick (49 points ahead of first driver out)
16. Buescher (last driver in, 24 points ahead of first driver out)
17. Kurt Busch (first driver out, 24 points behind last driver in)
18. Stenhouse (43 points behind last driver in)
19. DiBenedetto (46 points behind last driver in)
20. Chastain (50 points behind last driver in)
21. Suárez (61 points behind last driver in)
22. Wallace (77 points behind last driver in)
23. Newman (81 points behind last driver in)
24. Jones (102 points behind last driver in)
25. Preece (106 points behind last driver in)
26. Briscoe (107 points behind last driver in)
27. Custer (132 points behind last driver in)
28. Almirola (151 points behind last driver in)
Worth noting that Hamlin’s still ahead of Larson by ten in raw points, though he’s 22 back in playoff points.
Thoughts, Implications, Up Next
Buescher’s bad luck closed the gap considerably on the current bubble, with Reddick’s mishap adding to the hope for those on and around the playoff bubble. One or more winners from outside the current top sixteen is possible, and perhaps even probable, though Larson would have to stop winning everything in sight for that to happen.
We’ll see what next week holds at Pocono. If something doesn’t change rather dramatically, one would think Larson might just go and sweep the weekend. Which prompts the question of whether Larson surging to dominance is good or bad for NASCAR. Personally, I don’t think it’s bad, but I do think other drivers might be more marketable, and not just because of the scandal last summer—Larson seems interesting, but not someone who could necessarily rally folks to the sport.
Videos, Fun Stuff
No videos today (nothing all that good—cars sliding up the banking and slamming into the wall because their brakes failed isn’t particularly fun to watch), but it is fascinating how much faster Kyle Larson is than everyone else right now, and how he’s doing it everywhere, and I’d be curious to hear from someone who knows a lot more about how all this works regarding what’s happening. Is it Larson? Is it the car? Is it a combination only they can unlock together? (Something that another driver couldn’t pull off, I mean.) Just fascinating. Maybe Larson’s been this good the whole time and just needed a ride as fast as what Hendrick’s putting out there this year. Last year, Harvick and Hamlin kind of did this combined, but Larson has no rival right now. Hope that changes, for entertainment’s sake.
